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Ranking the best prospects for the No. 8 pick for the Cardinals

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2. Iowa OT Tristan Wirfs

Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports

What I like about Wirfs is the sheer athleticism, the background and the versatility. He appears to be a slam dunk of a pick. The Cardinals could use a right tackle. He can play it. He could play left tackle. He could even slide inside and play guard. He comes from the Big 10. His coach at Iowa, Brian Ferentz, was an offensive lineman and former offensive line coach.

Why do I rank him over the top receivers? It comes down to the depth of the tackle class. I think Wirfs is a sure thing. If the Cardinals take a receiver at the top of the draft and then look for a tackle later, the talent dropoff is big. The talent dropoff at receiver is not so great.

Take Wirfs if he is there, take a receiver in the second or third round dominate offensively with Kyler Murray at quarterback.

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Draft Wire managing editor Luke Easterling gave a value to each of the first-round picks of the 2020 draft. The Arizona Cardinals, in landing linebacker Isaiah Simmons with the eighth overall pick, landed the player with the fifth-best value of the round. He was drafted five spots below his draft ranking, giving him a value of +5. Only 14 players in the first round got positive value grades.

But what about the Cardinals' other picks?

Four of the six get a positive grade. Defensive lineman Leki Fotu and linebacker Evan Weaver were drafted higher than their rankings, based on

When the Arizona Cardinals selected linebacker Isaiah Simmons with the eighth overall pick in the 2020 draft, it was widely lauded as being an incredible value. The team had him in their top five players of the entire draft.

How great a value was the pick?

Draft Wire managing editor Luke Easterling quantified it, ranking all 32 first-round picks in terms of value. He used his final player rankings before the draft and compared it to the selection they were actually taken.

Simmons, the eighth overall pick, was the fifth-best value. He was ranked third overall and drafted eighth overall, giving...